Hancheng

For other uses, see Hancheng (disambiguation).

Hancheng 韩城市
County-level city
Skyline of Hancheng
Hancheng Location in the People's Republic of China
Coordinates:
Country	China
Province	Shaanxi
Prefecture	Weinan
Time zone	China standard time (UTC+8)

Hancheng (Chinese: 韩城; pinyin: Hánchéng) is a city in Shaanxi Province, People's Republic of China, about 125 miles northeast of Xi'an, at the point where the south-flowing Yellow River enters the Guanzhong Plain. It is a renowned historic city, containing numerous historic mansions and streets as well as over 140 protected historical sites that range from the Tang to the Qing dynasties. As of 2005, it has a population of around 385,000 people.

History

Brown-glazed Jar with Design of Three Fish. Yuan Dynasty, 1271-1368 CE. Excavated from Hancheng City

In ancient times, Yu the Great bored a tunnel in the nearby Mount Longmen (Dragon Gate Mountain) to alleviate the frequent flooding that occurred in the area, which lead to the area being called Dragon Gate (龍門). During the Western Zhou Dynasty, the area was bestowed on the Han Marquises. During the Spring and Autumn Period, the area was under the administration of the State of Jin and became known as Hanyuan (韓原) or "Land of the Hans." In the Warring States period, the area belonged to the State of Wei and was called Shaoliang (少梁). Towards the end of the Warring States Period, the State of Qin conquered and designated the area as Xiayang County (夏阳县). In the Sui Dynasty, the area received its present name of Hancheng.

In 1983, Hancheng County became Hancheng City. In 1986, the city was named a National Historic and Cultural City (国家历史文化名城) and, in 2007, was added to the list of Prime Tourist Cities of China (中国优秀旅游城市).

Economy

Hancheng has the biggest power plant in western China, generating over 2,400,000 kW.

Culture

The famed Chinese historian Sima Qian was born in Hancheng in the Han Dynasty and buried nearby.

External links

• Hancheng government website (Chinese)
• Famous historical names from 韓城 : 清朝第一位陕西籍状元王杰 (Chinese)